President Obama's Message to the People of Kenya

Habari Yako!

I found this a little late but it is great to see nonetheless. At this moment in time (placing any contradicting politics aside) we hope to see a peaceful election period in Kenya!

From the American people.

I love it!

Recap...

I haven't been writing as often. It's like I have been in a whirlwind. Anyhow, I have so much to work on. I have completed a quarterly progress report to simply recap all the accomplishments during my time in Macon. So much accomplished.

We were registered, developed the concept note, business plan, budget, itineraries, and even got two board members among a host of other things. The rest will focus on in the future once the marketing is done. 

It is now that we will begin to focus on the branding of the organization. I am scheduling time with ARK Africa to assist in this process. So we will see in a few weeks or months what we have come up with. 

But before we get into that, the goal is to focus on some other business objectives such as organization policies, bylaws and contingency plan and other protocols. It seems that there is a lot of work ahead. So, I will just jump right on it. 

Layover in Istanbul

Oh yeah, I forgot to blog about my layover... 

On a layover in Istanbul, something interesting happened that really encouraged me to focus on an old goal of mine. 

I had about 3 hours to spare in this new huge airport. Okay, its not that huge, in fact after I washed up and shopped for some Turkish Delights (20 min)... it was pretty much nothing to do but wait. So after I walked through the airport for another 60 min, I took a seat to wait for my gate number to appear on the screen. A woman approached me speaking in-distinctively and shamefully annoyed, I simply shook away from her. A couple of minutes later I realized that she may have been trying to find her way to her own gate, Confused and a bit nervous... perhaps by the huge and possibly new airport and airport experience. I got up from my seat and walked over to her and asked her what she was looking for. Because of a readily obvious language difference all I could understand was "Addis Ababa". She was trying to get to her gate. Once, I realized I walked with her over to the screen where the gate number for Addis Ababa had just appeared. As I attempted to show her what she needed to do, another young woman approached. 

Bonjour! Dakar. 

At first I was taken aback. Puzzled for .4 seconds until I realized this woman was hoping for some assistance as well. She approached, but quickly reoriented herself when she noticed that I was confused and also probably because I was not West African.   I looked at the screen. Ah. Dakar is Gate number 225. She seemed a bit anxious, most likely given the fact that her gate was now boarding. I pointed at the screen and said, "225". Of course, she didn't understand me, because Dakar is Frenchspeaking. Duh! I thought about it... and in my best french I said, "Deux... Deux... Cinq".  Awful, I know. And for her, it didn't register. Something however,  did because she looked up, grabbed her things, and bolted out. "Bon Voyage," I thought later... it happened so quickly. 

Hmm..

I returned to assist with Addis Ababa, attempting to offer to show her to her gate, but something had changed. Somehow I no longer had her trust and she began to walk away slowly. Wait. I tried to convince her that we needed to get her to her gate and that I would walk with her. I am not sure how I was convincing her since we didn't speak the same language. I imagined a that she may be terrified, given I am a stranger.. and I could sell her into slavery or something from this very airport. Crazy, I know. But it could happen. At that moment, I looked up and she had vanished. Right into thin air. 

It was at that moment... Okay, I won't be so dramatic... The entire ordeal made me think about how I need to focus and learn some freakin language other than English. I hope the two ladies caught their flights. Istanbul was indeed a lesson learned. It shall be done!

Back in Nairobi

I made it back to Nairobi... Safe and Sound!!! The trip went well. Hallelujah! :)

Ten Tips to Keep You Motivated as You Pursue Your Dreams!

Check out this article written by my friend Ajab Amin!

http://voices.yahoo.com/ten-tips-keep-motivated-as-pursue-your-11997542.html

Blog Party Pictures!!!

Blog Party Pictures.  Share the fun!!!

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=575189919133&set=a.575188990993.2024445.150200217&type=1&theater

Blog Launch Party!

Boy am I tired from such a full week. But the Blog Launch Party was a success! Thank the Lord. It was a lot of fun and I was very excited to see so much support.

The concept of the party was to get people to actively read, share, and comment on the blog. We played the blog game to see who had really read the blog. Only one person got all of the answers correct including the bonus! Shout out to Keigan Evans! We ate some really great pizza from Ingleside Village Pizza and later Ashton and Eden helped us by drawing names to select winner of the drawing. Winners received prizes like gift certificates to some great town eateries. And everyone received a party favor... Kenyan key chains!

If you weren't there, it's ok because the blog is still here. You can read it now and download the app from your local playstore or appstore!

Thanks to all who came out and joined us online. :)

Pictures will be uploaded to the blog shortly. Be sure to share the blog with everyone you know!

Signing out!

Tonja

Wangari's Trees of Peace

Just left Northwoods Academy where we read to some very adorable 4 and 5 year olds from Mrs. Stephens' class. The students learned about Wangari Mathaai with the story of the day, Wangari's Trees of Hope.  They enjoyed it.

We listened as she cried for all the trees that had disappeared in her homeland of Kenya.We counted to nine... for the nine seedlings that Wangari planted in her backyard.  And one student shouted, " the birds are back!"  Because Wangari and the women of Kenya planted trees all over the land. As the trees returned, so did the birds.

And At the end of story time, I asked what they learned. Responses included,
"She planted trees;"
"The bad men put her in jail;"
and my all time favorite
"She was protecting the trees."

These were some very bright kids!!!

Storytime ended with hugs!

Ninapenda Watoto. Tonja loves the kids!

It's Official!

It's Official! And we are Official. We have named our organization and are officially incorporated... once the paperwork is mailed back to us. But official nonetheless. Yaaay! Get Excited!

TWO Hands International, Inc. 

The World is Ours. 

College Prep Talk

 Today we spoke to a group of 12^th graders from Dominique Johnson’s enrichment class at Mercer University’s Upward Bound Program.  After dividing the students into groups, they were asked to come up with a name before answering a series of questions. The names for some were predictable while others were completely random. We then asked the students to pull out three sheets of paper and put their team’s name on top of each sheet.

Question 1-How many colleges and universities can you name?

Clark Atlanta University, MIT, Yale, FAMU, were just a few of the many that were named. One team named over 40 schools in two minutes. They were all working together actively and had more than one person writing names at a time.

Question 2-How many professions can you name?

 Zoologist, OB/GYN, F.B.I. agent, nurse, lawyer and computer programmer were some of the names listed for that question from all the groups.

Question 3-How many countries can you name?

Argentina, Brazil, Russia, Egypt, England, Chile, and Japan were some of the names for that category. It was clear that these students were quite aware of colleges, professions and countries around them.

They were very receptive of the group activity and interested in learning more about college life. Tonja spoke to the students about her alma mater Fisk University. And students asked some really great questions about what they should expect in their college experiences.

I very much enjoyed speaking with the students, answering their questions and hearing their thoughts, opinions and goals for lives after high school.

Wonderful Kids!

Valerie Simmons

Program Assistant

...well that went well.

...well that went well. Not!

I just left a meeting and I can say that it did not go well at all. But I realized that calling the meeting itself was simply premature. I realized that before I start organizing for board members and partnerships, I must concentrate on completing development process first... and not simultaneously as previously thought. But hey, this is a learning process, so that is what I am here to do. Needless to say, the meeting gave me more focus and ambition to work hard towards my goals.

Everything is a lesson learned.

Out!

Cultural Connection

Today, I attended the Cultural Connection Jazz Concert at the Douglass Theatre. Before the show began, I sat eavesdropping on a news anchor's interview with a young high school student from Houston County. She asked what brought him so far  (all the way to Macon) for this concert. He responded, that he was a percussionist in a youth symphony in Middle Georgia and very much interested in the Kalimba instrument that would be featured in today's concert. He knew all about the African instrument and was excited to hear it live. This being a performance to kick off black history month, the anchor went on to ask him why he felt it was important celebrate black history? And his response was unexpected. Paraphrasing, he shared that celebrating black history is simply a way to learn about a culture different from his own. Understanding the history and culture of all people is important to him as an American. I thought that was great to hear from a young student, especially given that he was white. It gave me a sense that there is much promise for the future generation after all.

Anyhow, the concert was amazing. If you missed it, you missed a treat. Cultural Connection!

Valerie Simmons, Kevin Spears (Kalimba Artist), and Me!

Family Fun!

We are celebrating my aunt Tonja's birthday with a little Superbowl fun!! Heeeeeey!

#theworldisours

The Flyer is ready to send out to the world!

I hope everyone can come out and support!

Join the festivities!
#theworldisours

There's an App for that!

So, thanks to Cierra Jenkins, my social media expert, I now have an app for that!  My blog... The World is Ours can now be found in your virtual play store or app store. This is great for the launch of the blog.... set for Wednesday, February 6, 2013. Join the party online or at Ingleside Pizza [Mercer Village]. Everyone is invited!

I am so excited because of the level of support that I have been receiving from everyone. It really makes my heart swell with love. :) People are just amazing. Cierra was so smart to come up with the idea and follow through with developing the app. She said she was just excited to be a part of something bigger than herself.   This program is about just that. Inspiring youth to be a part of something bigger than them. To join forces and place themselves in a world where they can be leaders, change makers, and inspirations all their own.

It looks like things are really coming together and I am ready to share with it the world.

Blog Launch... 6 days away! Get excited!!! Then get the app!

Rising Star

Today, we had a consultation with Michael D. Jordan of Rising Star Consultants. Though we thought we were ready to incorporate right then and there, he encouraged us to take a little bit more time. We needed to do another brainstorm for the name because the one we chose was a little too... common. We must also take some time to re-strategize who we want for the board of directors. Basically... we need to simply take care in what we are doing and ...be patient. Some great advice from a man who knows! The session was very helpful and we look forward to working with MJ and the company in the future.

No matter where you are... you can go higher!